Monday, April 28, 2008
Weeks Eight, Nine, and Ten
Well as you can see, I’ve been slacking on my weekly blog updates, but we’ve been keeping quite busy. Aussi, je n’ai pas beaucoup d’envie d’aller sur l’ordinateur pour longtemps (I don’t like being on the computer for long periods of time) So I will try to give you a more summarized version of these past three weeks in the beautiful Switzerland.
It was back to school, after the last time I wrote, how sad. I decided to do the French for Foreigners class again, and so I had to write the entrance exam because it was the beginning of the final trimester of the year. I was hoping to be placed in the same class as Kate and Iana, so other Canadian friends I met here, but was placed again in the third level. Mais c’est pas grave because I really like the people in my class and my teachers are also really good.
I decided to take a facultative class with one of the other Canadians – ITALIAN! The class runs for 2 hours every Friday afternoon. It is so cool, and a lot like French. I was able to understand when I could hear and read a conversation, but making sentences of my own would be a totally different task! I think I will try to just stick with French and English for now. The sad past though, is that I will only be able to go to 2 classes. The first Friday I went, the second, the teacher (who is quite pregnant) had a sore back, the third Friday I went, and this coming Friday is a holiday. But I definitely enjoyed it.
The Saturday of the end of week eight (April 12th) Willi, Lorenz, Jana, Timon, and I got up at 5:45 and took the train to Zermatt where we skied all day! It was a great day for skiing – the snow was still great and there were not tonne of people because it was a “changeover” day. I saw the Matterhorn (the famous mountain on the Toblerone package), although through slightly thick fog/clouds. It was so cool. We took the train back home, at the end of the day, which took about 3 hours, so by the end of the day, everyone was very tired, but it was a great day!
The next day, Jana and I went to the morning service in St. Blaise. It was the confirmation service where young teenagers can show that they have decided for themselves that they are Christians.
After lunch, Willi, Verena, Timon, and I went to Avenches (which was where I was stranded with the other Canadians for a little while after the trip to Bern). As it turns out, Avenches was the ancient Roman military capital of modern day Europe just a little under 2000 years ago. We saw ruins of the amphitheatre and theatre and took a tour through the small museum. It was really interesting and had a lot of ancient artefacts that they are still continuing to find today, and that is why it is so difficult to get a permit to build anything in Avenches.
On Saturday the next weekend, we went to Zurich. It was so beautiful and a lot like a mini Paris (minus the Eiffel Tower and Arch of Triumph) but a lot cleaner and friendlier, I found. There were a lot of high end stores, beautiful old churches and houses, and it was right next to the Lake of Zurich and straddling a river, with a beautiful view of the Alps. I highly recommend visiting this city, if you ever get the chance.
On our way to Zurich, we stopped for lunch and a chat with family friends of the Kausches. Being in the German speaking part of Switzerland, they didn’t speak French, but we did out best to communicate in English, a mix of German, French, and English, or by using the Kausches as translators. It was fun and they were really nice people. For lunch, we ate the national Swiss sausage (soon to become extinct, due to a sickness in the pigs or cows in Brazil, where they get the outer layer of the sausage) wrapped in bacon and a pastry.
On the way home from Zurich, we stopped at Jana’s grandparents’ house (the parents of Willi) for dinner. They also didn’t speak French, but I said a few words in German (like danke and nie danke) and they said a few words in English and it all worked out nicely.
On Sunday, Willi, Jana, Timon and I went to the “football” (soccer) game in Neuchatel vs. Sion. It was fun to see real European soccer, which was pretty good. The fans of each team got really into the game and cheering with massive flags, and signs painted on their bellies and drums… everything. The game finished with a score of 1-1, even after overtime.
The next weekend (April 25th and 26th) we had beautiful weather! On Saturday we went for a nice bike ride (Jana, Maren, and I) through a few villages to St. Blaise, where we walked and talked and sat by the side of the lake. People were playing soccer, sun tanning, eating ice cream, walking dogs - it was a perfect day. It funny how for the past few weeks, during the week its always cold and rainy, but for the weekends, the sun comes out and warms everything up. I guess its better like this so I will do my homework but still get to enjoy everything outdoors when on the weekend. On our way back, we saw Aurélie, from the youth group, and she took us to her house were we saw her horse, parrot, 2 dogs, one puppy, and cat.
On Sunday, Verena and I biked to Le Landeron for the morning service. When we got home, we had crêpes with ham and cheese and mushrooms for lunch, and crêpes with chocolate, jam, and sugar for dessert. I ate way too much and didn’t really need to eat anything else for the rest of the day. In the afternoon we went to Geneva to pick up Lorenz from his sailing regatta, where he placed 6th out of 30 some odd. While they packed up the boats and loaded them onto a trailer, we got to sit in the sun and eat apple wedges and enjoy the beautiful view. We went to Lorenz’s apartment in Lausanne and ate bread and cheese and ham there.
Well I suppose that’s the highlights for the past 3 weeks. I will write about my last week and a half later. Its coming to an end too fast.
Weeks Eight, Nine, and Ten
Well as you can see, I’ve been slacking on my weekly blog updates, but we’ve been keeping quite busy. Aussi, je n’ai pas beaucoup d’envie d’aller sur l’ordinateur pour longtemps (I don’t like being on the computer for long periods of time) So I will try to give you a more summarized version of these past three weeks in the beautiful Switzerland.
It was back to school, after the last time I wrote, how sad. I decided to do the French for Foreigners class again, and so I had to write the entrance exam because it was the beginning of the final trimester of the year. I was hoping to be placed in the same class as Kate and Iana, so other Canadian friends I met here, but was placed again in the third level. Mais c’est pas grave because I really like the people in my class and my teachers are also really good.
I decided to take a facultative class with one of the other Canadians – ITALIAN! The class runs for 2 hours every Friday afternoon. It is so cool, and a lot like French. I was able to understand when I could hear and read a conversation, but making sentences of my own would be a totally different task! I think I will try to just stick with French and English for now. The sad past though, is that I will only be able to go to 2 classes. The first Friday I went, the second, the teacher (who is quite pregnant) had a sore back, the third Friday I went, and this coming Friday is a holiday. But I definitely enjoyed it.
The Saturday of the end of week eight (April 12th) Willi, Lorenz, Jana, Timon, and I got up at 5:45 and took the train to Zermatt where we skied all day! It was a great day for skiing – the snow was still great and there were not tonne of people because it was a “changeover” day. I saw the Matterhorn (the famous mountain on the Toblerone package), although through slightly thick fog/clouds. It was so cool. We took the train back home, at the end of the day, which took about 3 hours, so by the end of the day, everyone was very tired, but it was a great day!The next day, Jana and I went to the morning service in St. Blaise. It was the confirmation service where young teenagers can show that they have decided for themselves that they are Christians.
After lunch, Willi, Verena, Timon, and I went to Avenches (which was where I was stranded with the other Canadians for a little while after the trip to Bern). As it turns out, Avenches was the ancient Roman military capital of modern day Europe just a little under 2000 years ago. We saw ruins of the amphitheatre and theatre and took a tour through the small museum. It was really interesting and had a lot of ancient artefacts that they are still continuing to find today, and that is why it is so difficult to get a permit to build anything in Avenches.
On Saturday the next weekend, we went to Zurich. It was so beautiful and a lot like a mini Paris (minus the Eiffel Tower and Arch of Triumph) but a lot cleaner and friendlier, I found. There were a lot of high end stores, beautiful old churches and houses, and it was right next to the Lake of Zurich and straddling a river, with a beautiful view of the Alps. I highly recommend visiting this city, if you ever get the chance.On our way to Zurich, we stopped for lunch and a chat with family friends of the Kausches. Being in the German speaking part of Switzerland, they didn’t speak French, but we did out best to communicate in English, a mix of German, French, and English, or by using the Kausches as translators. It was fun and they were really nice people. For lunch, we ate the national Swiss sausage (soon to become extinct, due to a sickness in the pigs or cows in Brazil, where they get the outer layer of the sausage) wrapped in bacon and a pastry.
On the way home from Zurich, we stopped at Jana’s grandparents’ house (the parents of Willi) for dinner. They also didn’t speak French, but I said a few words in German (like danke and nie danke) and they said a few words in English and it all worked out nicely.
On Sunday, Willi, Jana, Timon and I went to the “football” (soccer) game in Neuchatel vs. Sion. It was fun to see real European soccer, which was pretty good. The fans of each team got really into the game and cheering with massive flags, and signs painted on their bellies and drums… everything. The game finished with a score of 1-1, even after overtime.
The next weekend (April 25th and 26th) we had beautiful weather! On Saturday we went for a nice bike ride (Jana, Maren, and I) through a few villages to St. Blaise, where we walked and talked and sat by the side of the lake. People were playing soccer, sun tanning, eating ice cream, walking dogs - it was a perfect day. It funny how for the past few weeks, during the week its always cold and rainy, but for the weekends, the sun comes out and warms everything up. I guess its better like this so I will do my homework but still get to enjoy everything outdoors when on the weekend. On our way back, we saw Aurélie, from the youth group, and she took us to her house were we saw her horse, parrot, 2 dogs, one puppy, and cat.
On Sunday, Verena and I biked to Le Landeron for the morning service. When we got home, we had crêpes with ham and cheese and mushrooms for lunch, and crêpes with chocolate, jam, and sugar for dessert. I ate way too much and didn’t really need to eat anything else for the rest of the day. In the afternoon we went to Geneva to pick up Lorenz from his sailing regatta, where he placed 6th out of 30 some odd. While they packed up the boats and loaded them onto a trailer, we got to sit in the sun and eat apple wedges and enjoy the beautiful view. We went to Lorenz’s apartment in Lausanne and ate bread and cheese and ham there.
Well I suppose that’s the highlights for the past 3 weeks. I will write about my last week and a half later. Its coming to an end too fast.
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